Latest Lessons

When I started playing again after taking a few months off, I immediately noticed how weak my fretting hands where when trying to execute string bends and vibrato. These exercises will gradually build up your finger strength and stamina. Each exercise will become progressively more difficult and require stronger technique.

For many guitarists learning to play solos, it can be easy to fall into a rut based on a certain hand position of a scale, and in doing so forget to play melodically. In this lesson, we will focus on learning to effectively incorporate melody into a solo. After all, iconic melodies are what set great guitar solos apart in many instances.

In this Monster Lick Unleashed, I'm using the diminished 7th scale in the key of E. The notes used in the scale are E, G, Bb and C#. I particularly love this scale for the intense sound it creates when played fast or slow. This scale is perfect to use in combination with the pentatonic.

Hello, and welcome to my new Guitar World instructional column. In the coming months, I’ll share with you some of the guitar-playing concepts and approaches that have helped me develop my technique and overall playing style. I’d like to start off with an examination of ascending scalar shapes that, by design, cover the majority of the fretboard.

Lack of inspiration, time commitments such as work, medical problems, loss of interest, even video games are all valid reasons people take a break from playing guitar. I decided to start this series of lessons for anyone who has spent a period of time away from playing. These lessons will help you get back into playing regularly and give you some useful exercises to help rebuild your technique.

One of the many tools that can be used to learn the higher positions is the CAGED system. Though the application can be very useful, aspects of it can be simplified and studied in a more musical approach. Doing this might help you have a better understanding of chord voicing and harmony.

In this video, Guitar World's Jimmy Brown shows you how to play "Silent Night" — just in time for Christmas. Brown goes over several different arrangements, from basic to more involved, and then covers the melody line.

Last year, I gave you a 30-minute guitar workout designed for guitarists with limited practice time. The goal of the workout was to give you an intense 30 minutes of practice. The positive response to this workout inspired me make a new version for 2014. As with my previous workout the goal is the same: 30 minutes of intense practice.

When you first learn the three-note-per-string and/or single position seven-note scale, you learn the patterns starting on the low E string and work your way up to the high E and back. You do this for each of the seven patterns up the neck, practicing and perfecting your scales. This is great! The only problem is, this is how you are training your hands and brain to approach them.